Egypt: death penalty for terrorists linked to beheading of 20 Copts

Demonstrators in Egypt hold up banner showing the faces of nine of the Copts murdered in Libya in 2015 (World Watch Monitor)

An Egyptian court has sentenced seven people to death for their links with the Islamic State (IS) group in Libya. An unspecified number of the condemned were accused of taking part in the beheading of 20 Egyptian Coptic Christians and a Ghanaian on a beach in Libya in 2015 – an incident that was filmed and shared widely.

In total 20 defendants are involved in the case, with charges also including weapons possession and inciting violence.

Of the seven defendants, three were sentenced to death in absentia, officials said.

The seven suspects were accused of membership of an IS cell in the Egyptian Mediterranean city of Mersa Matruh, and of planning attacks and receiving military training in Libya and Syria.